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Ikwerre language

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Ikwerre
Pronunciation[ìkʷéré]
Native toRivers state, Nigeria
Ethnicity
Native speakers
2,000,000 (2019)[1]
DialectsApara, Ndele, Ọgbakiri, Ọbịọ, Akpor Alụụ, Ịbaa, Elele[2]
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3ikw
Glottologikwe1242
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Ikwerre (Iwhuruohna)[3] is a language spoken primarily by the Ikwerre people,[4] who inhabit certain areas of Rivers State, Nigeria.

Classification

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The Ikwerre language is an Igboid language of the Volta-Niger branch of Niger-Congo family of languages. Based on lexicostatistical analysis, Kay Williamson first asserted that the Ikwerre, Ekpeye, and Ogba, languages belonged to the same language cluster, and were not dialects.[5] After subsequent studies and more research by both Williamson and Roger Blench, it was concluded that lexical similar languages like Ikwerre, Ogba, Igbo and Ekpeye form a "language cluster" and that they are somewhat mutually intelligible.[6]

Dialects

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Alerechi (2018) states that there are 24 divergent dialects. Those starred (*) below are only provided with their abbreviations:[clarification needed]

  1. Akpb*
  2. Akpọ (Akpo-Mgbu-Tolu)
  3. Alụu
  4. Apani
  5. Ibaa
  6. Igwuruta
  7. Ipo
  8. Isiokpo
  9. Egbedna
  10. Elele
  11. Ẹmowha (Emowhua)
  12. Obio
  13. Omagwna
  14. Omerelu
  15. Omudioga
  16. Omdm*
  17. Ozha*
  18. Ọdeegnu
  19. Ọgbakiri
  20. Ọmuanwa
  21. Rmkp*
  22. Rndl*
  23. Ubima
  24. Ubmn*

In addition, Glottolog lists two dialects that are unclear which of Alerechi's listing they correspond to (if any):

  1. Ndele
  2. Rumuji

Phonology

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Vowels

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Ikwerre distinguishes vowels by quality (frontedness and height), the presence or absence of nasalization, and the presence or absence of advanced tongue root.[citation needed]

Front Back
High +ATR i ĩ u ũ
−ATR ɪ ɪ̃ ʊ ʊ̃
Mid +ATR e ẽ o õ
−ATR ɛ ɛ̃ ɔ ɔ̃
Low −ATR a ã

There is also a vowel */ə̃/ which is posited to explain syllabic nasal consonants in accounts of the language which state that Ikwerre has no nasal stops. This sound is realized as [ɨ̃] or a syllabic nasal which is homorganic to the following consonant.[citation needed] Alerechi (2018) states that while earlier sources treat [ɛ] as an allophone of /e/, this is only true for some dialects; in others, it is fully contrastive. In addition, Alerechi does not recognize a nasalized variant of this vowel.

Vowel harmony

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Ikwerre exhibits two kinds of vowel harmony:

  1. Every vowel in an Ikwerre word, with a few exceptions, agrees with the other vowels in the word as to the presence or absence of advanced tongue root.
  2. Vowels of the same height in adjacent syllables must all be either front or back, i.e. the pairs /i/ & /u/, /ɪ/ & /ʊ/, /e/ & /o/, and /ɛ/ & /ɔ/ cannot occur in adjacent syllables. Vowels of different heights, however, need not match for frontness/backness either. This doesn't apply to the first vowel in nouns beginning with a vowel or with /ɾ/, and does not apply to onomatopoeic words.

Consonants

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Derived from Clements & Osu (2003)
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
Plosive or
Affricate 		voiceless p t tʃ k kʷ
voiced b d dʒ ɡ ɡʷ
Fricative voiceless f s
voiced v z
Nonexplosive plain ḅ ~ m
glottalized ˀḅ ~ ˀm
Tap ɾ ~ ɾ̃
Approximant l ~ n j ~ j̃ ɣ̞ ~ ɣ̞̃ w ~ w̃ h ~ h̃ hʷ ~ h̃ʷ
Derived from Alerechi (2018)
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ
Plosive or
Affricate 		voiceless (p) t tʃ k kʷ
voiced (b) d dʒ ɡ ɡʷ
Implosive voiceless ƥ
voiced ɓ
Fricative voiceless (f) s hʷ h
voiced (v) z
Tap ɾ
Approximant l j ɰ w
  • Clements & Osu (2003) state that the oral consonants [ḅ ˀḅ l ɾ j ɣ̞ w h hʷ] occur before oral vowels, and their nasal allophones [m ˀm n ɾ̃ ȷ̃ ɣ̞̃ w̃ h̃ h̃ʷ] before nasal vowels. The "nonexplosive stops" [ḅ ˀḅ] are non-pulmonic and are equivalent to implosives in other varieties of Igbo.[7] Clements & Osu (2005) later clarify that the nasals are non-phonemic, but are frequent due to nasal vowel-consonant harmony.[8]
  • Alerechi (2018) states that the consonants in parentheses occur in the Ọgbakiri dialect, while they may be allophonic or non-existent in other dialects. In addition, the palatal (postalveolar) fricatives [ʃ] and [ʒ] as well as the glottal stop [ʔ] may be heard, but are non-phonemic.[9] Alerechi (2020) later clarifies that the phonological status of the affricates /tʃ dʒ/ is debated.[10]

The tap /ɾ/ may sometimes be realized as an approximant [ɹ].[citation needed]

Tone

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Ikwerre is a tonal language with seven tones: high, mid, low, high-low falling, high-mid falling, mid-low falling and rising. Ikwerre also has a tonal downdrift. For example: rínya᷆ (high, mid-low falling) means "weight, heaviness", rìnyâ (low, high-low falling) means "female, wife", mụ̌ (rising) means "to learn", mụ̂ (high-low falling) means "to give birth", etc.

References

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  1. ^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (PDF) (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation. p. 45.
  2. ^ Alagoa, Ebiegberi Joe; Anozie, F. N.; Nzewunwa, Nwanna (1988). The early history of the Niger Delta. Buske Verlag. p. 81. ISBN 3-87118-848-4.
  3. ^ "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  4. ^ "Ikwerre language and alphabet".
  5. ^ Williamson, Kay (1974). ODUMA: The Lower Niger Languages. Vol. 1. Rivers State Council of Arts & Culture, Port Harcourt.
  6. ^ Williamson, Kay; Roger M. Blench (2000). African languages: an introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  7. ^ Clements, G. N.; Osu, Sylvester (2003), Ikwere Nasal Harmony in Typological Perspective, pp. 1–20
  8. ^ Clements, George N.; Osu, Sylvester (2005). "Nasal harmony in Ikwere, a language with no phonemic nasal consonants". Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. 26 (2): 165–200. doi:10.1515/jall.2005.26.2.165. S2CID 144317723.
  9. ^ Alerechi, Roseline Ihuoma C. (2018). "9: Consonant Substitution in Child Language (Ikwere)" (PDF). In Kandybowicz, Jason; Major, Travis; Torrence, Harold; Duncan, Philip T. (eds.). African linguistics on the prairie: Selected papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Contemporary African Linguistics. Vol. 3. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1219141. ISBN 978-3-96110-036-1. ISSN 2511-7726.
  10. ^ Alerechi, Roseline Ihuoma C. (2020). "The Syllable Structure of Ikwere" (PDF). ERUDITE Journal of Linguistics and Language. 2 (1): 82–103.

Further reading

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